Saturday the tough

Tough training day today. Not that the hours were long, just that the motivation wasn't necessarily there. I love days like this, though, as they really test my mental toughness. I've learned a long time ago that all the talent in the world can't make up for being a headcase. If you're going to get out there and be consistant, regardless of the sport or job or whatever, you've gotta have that mental toughness to say 'things gotta get done regardless of how I'm feeling'.

I wish I had learned this lesson earlier, but I guess now is as good a time as any. Luckily, I'm not quite yet past my athletic prime (although I'm knocking on it's door in a big way), so I think I can still use the lessons I've learned to my advantage.

Today started with a speed workout in the pool. 2800 measly yards. Nothing right? Well, I really had to do some soul searching to get it all in. The warm-up by itself was just an easy 1000 yards. Simple-worked on stretching out and getting into my stroke. Then came 16 sets of intervals ranging from 100yds to 50yds. By the time I was into my 200yd cool down, my shoulders were cooked, my traps were shot, my lats were screaming, and my lower back was on fire. Great day!

So then it was home and onto the rollers for a nice and easy 2-3 hour ride. Ok, so I've been training quite a bit indoors lately (again working on some mental toughness), and have come to love the control factor that comes along with being on a machine and not on the road. No cars or unneeded stops to get in the way of keeping my Heart Rate constant. I really feel that I get a better and more concise workout this way. However, being in the mental state in which I found myself today, after about and hour indoors cabin fever struck. I HAD to get out! There was no negotiation. I got off the rollers, hopped into some tights, threw on the jacket and the beanie and was out the door for another hour and change. By the time I came back there was frost on my eyelids (it's 20 degrees here, 8 degrees with the windchill), my fingers were basically useless on account of the numbness, and I had a HUGE smile on my face! Good times! While I'm jealous of all the people out there that can train in warm climates all year long, I don't feel bad for myself. I've grown a little tougher for all the cold workouts and near hypothermic situations I've put myeslf in. I hate the cold but I've definately learned to embrace it.

So that was today. I got in what needed to be done and now I can do it all again tomorrow! Like I said, it's not a lot of hours, it's just getting done what needs to be done, and that's something we can all do, regardless of if it's triathlon, work or whatever.

Push 'till ya puke...Always.

First in a long while....

So this is my first post in quite a while and I'm gonna keep it short. Not because I'm lazy, but because of the fact that it's nearly 1am and I have to get up in 5 hours to be at the pool in tomorrow morning.

I've been down on the blogging front for a bit as a result of my business picking up quite a bit. This is the time of year for us personal trainers to make a killing picking up new business as well as keep our current clients motivated and headed in the right direction for the new year. Also, I'm in the beginning stages of starting up some really neat internet training stuff so I'll keep anyone interested up to date through this blog.

The internet training will be similar to that of most triathlon coaching websites, including e-mail and phone comunication, packages, routines, video postings, etc. I'm looking to get this off the ground in the next few weeks so if you're interested, please feel free to e-mail me at Davidspike1@hotmail.com. I'll get back to you ASAP and have some packages pricelists all set to go along with some more info.

On the personal front, I've been training my butt off. Having a coach set up my schedule and go through things with me has been the best thing ever. At this point in my year I'm already light years ahead of where I've been in the past with triathlon. Granted, I'm only in the sport for a grand total of about a year and a half, but I can really see that I can do some damage in my coming races this season.

I've also gone back to playing my first love, hockey. No, not that dinky roller or deck hockey crap, but real blood and guts on the ice type of hockey. I played since I was a kid and probably could have gone somewhere if I didn't choose to go with lacrosse instead. Don't get me wrong, lacrosse was good to me and paid for a large part of my education, but I should have stuck it out and stayed with hockey. All the guys I grew up with that I doubted would go anywhere in the sport now play professionally somewhere (most in the NHL), not to mention that one of them just started in the friggin' NHL All-Star game last week! Good job fellas and keep up the good work!

So I've started to play again and I'm happy. It keeps me balanced in between long sessions at the pool, on the bike, and running on the treadmill.

So that's about it for now. I'll look to start posting more consistantly now that things have calmed a bit with work.

Happy training and.....

Push 'till ya puke...Always.

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve!

Today is the first day that I've really felt the Christmas spirit! It's rainy here on Long Island, and cold as hell, but I'm still into that White Christmas feel! I wish I could just sit and relax all day, but I have some clients to see this morning and then some shopping to finish up on-that's right, I left it 'till the end! Kristen was killing me about this last night (she's super organized and very on the ball with things like this and I am anything but that). I know she's right, but I just can never seem to get everything I need done in a timely fashion! She's rubbed off quite a bit on me, and I'm better than I used to be, but it's still like pulling teeth for me to get everything done on time. I need 28 hour days! Then I can get work, training, and everything else done on time.

Trianing wise I'm only doing a nice easy hour run on the trials today. It should be fun as I'm going to again wear the Vibrams (the insulated Flow for today's mud and ice). I really can't get enough of these things. I've gone full bore into them, pretty much ignoring the warnings to slowly adapt to them. I've been wearing them pretty consistantly to work and around town (wore them to the mall yesterday and got some interesting looks!), and my feet really don't have any pain or discomfort. That says a lot because yesterday's mall outing was all on concrete and hard floors. Most times, I would find myself running across the parking lot because it was so cold outside! I probably got in at least an extra mile or two doing that alone!

So that's about all for today. Just little odds and ends to pick up on. I'm excited for tomorrow (especially to sleep in!), but at the same time bummed I'm not going to be able to swim. Apparently the people at the gym don't think people like to work out on holidays...what about our Jewish and non Christian friends? :) Anyway, have a Merry Christmas Eve!

Push 'till ya puke...Always (just not on Christmas because the gym is closed:) )

Rest day

Ah, I love this day. Super busy with work and holiday stuff, but it's very nice not to have to train for a day.
Recently my swim training has taken priority. I'm in the beginnings of a swim focus-which I desperately need-and it can't be going better. It's not the work that I mind, I love the work, it's the damned boredom I can't deal with. I absolutely love the solitude of training, but I just can't deal with only hearing the water pass through my ears and staring at a black line for all that long. During long sets, I've tried to do math in my head. However, I quickly loose my head because, oh yeah, I suck at math!!! So then I think about my form, realize that it can do better, but that only lasts for so long. So then I get to thinking about the day and what I have to do, get stressed, and stop thinking about it. I'm at a loss. What do you do to get rid of the boredom? I may try to get a swimp3 player, but I really don't want to spend the money, especially around this time of year. I really don't have the luxury of swimming in a master's program (the only one's I know of around here start at 6 am and I begin work at 4:30am. So what do I do about this boredom? If anyone reading this has any suggestions, please feel free to comment.

So that's about it for now. I'm just trying to get my training in between work and holiday stuff. Oh, and I've discovered that mountain biking in the snow with me new 29'er is this sh*t! I crashed a few times, but there's nothing like getting out in the rain and snow in the 20 degree weather we've had around here this week! Much more fun than riding indoors on rollers. While most people around here hate the bad weather, I looooove it! I really believe it makes me tougher than my competitors. I'm the guy out there in the rain, sleet and snow, running and biking with people yelling at me that I'm nuts. Gotta love it!!!! Between that and running ten miles "barefoot" in the snow on Friday in my Vibrams, I believe I'm becoming somewhat of a badass! Hahahaha, gotta love it!

Push 'till ya puke...Always!

Shoes Suck!!!!! And I'm not kidding!

Ok, so for some time now, I've been experimenting with more and more minimal footwear while running. I, like many runners out there, began my running journey with the pricey, pretty, and un-freakin-fuctional, cushy trainers you see in every running shop from here to Zimbabwe-ok, maybe not there, but you get my point. Anyway, this led me to knee pain, hip flexor problems, plantar facitis(sp?), and a host of other stupid injuries. I always thought it was something I was doing wrong in training. 'Maybe I'm not giving myself enough time to adapt?' 'Maybe I'm running too much on pavement?' 'Maybe I'm too heavy and I need to loose weight?' All these thoughts and more plagued my mind as I kept getting injured.

Then it was on to form. I always thought I had a good, natural running form, but left with nowhere else to go, I researched chi and pose running, buying books and videos regarding the techniques. I did drills, videotape, and so forth, not finding all that much wrong with what I was doing naturally.

So finally it was on to the footwear itself. After reading some good blogs from Chuckie
V. and Matt Fitzgerald, I decided to go the racing flat route...what else did I have to loose right? So I broke out the flats and started to train normally again. Things went great. Not every issue was gone, but it was definately better. In addition to the flats, I began to run more on trails as well. About 90 percent of the time, things were fine. No issues. But, like always, there was that nagging little injury or two that kept creeping up.

So that brings me up to today. As I've now started in on my base training for next season (having a coach is a wonderful thing!), I wanted to take it one step further. So I bought, what I thought was the most minimal shoe I could find-the Nike Free 3.0. Ok, so I used them and things were good. Once again, not great, but good. Then, I stumbled onto barefootrunner.com. All I can say is wow. This has forever changed my running life! As I read more and more of the site, I saw the Vibram Five Fingers shoes. Now, to say they are shoes is probably saying too much. I'd say at best they're more like gloves for your feet, providing just enough protection to run and walk off-road and on road. So I bought a pair.

The Vibram's came the other night and I have literally worn nothing else since I got the box in the mail. They are truly an amazing product, and definately the closest thing to a barefoot feeling you can have. Imagine this: They make the Nike Free 3.0 feel like a hiking boot.

Ok, Ok, so where am I going with this....Today I took them out for their first run. What an eye-opener! I never, ever, ever dreamed of running barefoot ( and for that matter thought people that did so were nuts) but I loved it! I believe that the gradual changeover from trainers to racing flats gave me a good base to work from, making the transition to 'barefooting' that much easier. I had an hour run scheduled, and figured I'd where the Vibram's for half of that, then switch over to my Free's. At about 40 minutes, almost as planned, I ran back to the trail head, took the Free's out of my car, slipped them on and cruised off. NO FREKIN' WAY! I thought. I made it about a half mile in the Free's before I turned around, slipped back into the Vibram's and finished the last few miles of the run.

Today was just an amazing expierience. I'm so excited about this new discovery! Truly FREE running, and I feel great! My heart rate was lower during the run, and I even managed to run a bit farther today in the same time as I did on my last run with the Nike Free's on. I have no pain, feel fresher, and am more psyched about running than I've been in a long time. I'm definately all about the barfoot running now!

But where does this leave me? I'll continue to run in the Vibrams for my trail runs, and maybe for a little bit on the pavement if the urge strikes me. All told though, I'm going to go easy with this new discovery. Today was about 8 miles on trials, not a marathon on pavement. The process will be slow and careful because the last thing I want to do is get injured. But I do have to say that a new chapter has been opened in my running life, and I'm very excited to see where it leads!

Push 'till ya puke...Always!!!

Another day, another dollar...out the window!

Another sweet day today. I worked hard in the morning and had a good workout in the pool in the afternoon. The thing I love about swimming is the non-impact aspect of it. I can work harder and harder, but without the beating I take from the run. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE running, but swimming has a calming effect on me. I think cycling does as well, but the weather has been so crappy here I haven't had a chance to get out on the road in the last couple weeks. My coach has me doing shorter rides anyway (2-3 hours at the longest, real low intensity) two days a week, so that's not much cycling.

So, anyway, about getting outside to ride...I picked up the above pictured bike today. I realized that I'm not an indoor trainer/rollers guy. I can do it in a pinch, but the truth is I need to be outside. One of the forgotten aspects of triathlon is the fact that you get to spend so much time in the beautiful outdoors! I never realized it, but I absolutely love nature and the elements. When it rains, snows, etc., I can't help but want to get out for a run. Now, with my new bike, I can really get out in the weather. I'm looking forward to some cold and muddy rides.

So after my sweet swim today (all 30 mins of it), I hoped on the treadmill for a mile run. Basically I wanted to just move my legs a bit (in my new Nike Free 3.0's-more on that in a minute). Mission accomplished. Post run I hopped in the sauna for five minutes before I started to hear voices and see pretty colors...Time to get out! So I took an ice cold shower and peaced out.

Ok, so the Nike Free's...

I've been looking, no, searching for a minimalistic shoe to wear for everyday training. I've encountered some problems wearing the basic "training" shoe, and have done some research on shoes. To make a lot of research short, training flats and minimalistic shoes are the way to go-period. Packed dirt and grass seem to be the best surfaces (along with synthetic tracks). 'Nuff said. So after buying some pretty tiny little flats-and enjoying them-I came across the Nike Free 3.0 on Matt Fitzgerald's blog. From what I can gather he trains in them everyday. I like that, and I respect his opinion so I ordered a pair. Couldn't be more happy. They are so minimal they make your feet (pardon the pun) free of the obstruction they often face with overdeveloped shoes. However, at the same time, they provide enough cushion to protect your feet from the ground. I'm looking to mostly use them on the trails and golf courses I run, but I'm sure a couple road runs will be okay as well.

So that's about it for today. I'm just about to retire for the night with Lucki Dog-haha, I said RETIRE. I'm going to try to blog on a more daily basis as it really is a great form of therapy for me. Even though I'm sure all this blabber doesn't make much sense and isn't too cohesive, it helps me get the crap out of my head. So if you're reading, thank you for the interest and I hope this is a decent look into my life.

Push 'till ya puke...Always.

Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you

Today was a rough one, training-wise I mean. Simple day on the schedule, 45 minute swim with drills. Easy right? NOPE! Someone forgot to tell the rest of my body to show up at the pool. After a series of the some of the best swims I've had in my life, I all but forgot how to swim today! Now there are two things that could've gone wrong today: 1) I could just be getting so much better at swimming that today's mediocre workout seemed, by comparison much worse than it actually was, or 2) I was dead tired from not sleeping AGAIN the night before, and my workout suffered because of it. To be honest, the answer is a combination of both numbers 1 and 2.

Recently I've been more motivated than ever to train. This is in large part due to the fact that I now, for the first time, have a structured workout plan put forward by my coach, John. This has helped me tremendously. I don't have to think about what I'll be doing on any particular day-I just get out and go. This has proved invaluable as I often have a tendancy to overdo one sport and burn out on it. Remember, triathlon is ONE sport involving three sports. It's sort of like Subject A, with subtitles a, b, and c. Nevertheless, the schedule I'm on makes it such that I'm pumped each and every day to train!

Okay, so back to the 1 and 2 thing. So I've become a better swimmer and my off days (that used to be my best days) now suck and I'm pissed. Secondly, sleep is not a friend of mine right now. Even as I write this, in the bathroom no less (I'll leave the particulars to your imagination) I should be getting in bed and nodding off to dreamland. For some reason though, I have suffered from some minor insomnia lately. I don't know, maybe it's the coming holidays, maybe it's work, but whatever it is, it seriously needs to stop before I go nuts. Maybe I'll cut down on the coffee. Note I said CUT DOWN and not cut OUT. Coffee is much too important to me right now to just go and abandon her. We have a very SERIOUS and COMMITTED relationship. :)

So anyway, that was today. I got my ass kicked (or better yet-kicked my own ass) in the pool. Let's hope that my next swim on Thursday is better. Tomorrow is an easy hour-long run and on my worst days I can put one foot in front of the other so this should be no problem. Plus I'll have Lucki dog out there for some added support. Anyway, rock on, kick ass, get out and go, and all that jazz. I'm gonna take some Melatonin and hopefully drift off.

Push 'till ya puke...Always.